Richard Simmons responds to concerns over withdrawing from the public eye

Richard Simmons hasn’t been seen out in public for over two years now, and his loved ones have voiced serious concerns. However, the fitness guru is responding by saying there’s nothing anyone should worry about.

Simmons called into the Today Show on Sunday, March 13 and told Savannah Guthrie in a segment that aired the following day that he isn’t being held against his will by his longtime housekeeper, which a friend has suggested to the Daily News.

“No one is holding me in my house as a hostage,'' he said. He added of his housekeeper, "That's just very silly. Teresa Reveles has been with me for 30 years. It's almost like we're a married couple."

Simmons used to be seen often, either at his Beverly Hills fitness studio teaching classes or on television, but it’s been a few years now that he has withdrawn from public life. He explained the reasoning behind this as being started by a knee injury. In 2014 there were reports Simmons had become reclusive because he was depressed.

He told Guthrie he wanted to be a “loner for a while,” adding, "I had hurt my knee, and I had some problems with it, and then the other knee started giving me trouble because I've taught like thousands and thousands of classes, and you know right now I just want to sort of take care of me."

Simmons also said that we haven't "seen the last" of him and he will "come back strong" when he decides it's time.

{"code":"internal_server_error","message":"

There has been a critical error on your website.<\/p>

Learn more about debugging in WordPress.<\/a><\/p>","data":{"status":500},"additional_errors":[]}